Author: Don V. Kelly

Business Law Business Law Resources Copyright Law
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Another Example of How Copyright Law Touches Our Everyday Lives: The Georgia Official Code Case

Keywords: Copyright, Supreme Court, Georgia, Public.Resource.Org., annotations, OCGA, Government Edicts Doctrine Introduction One would think that when a state creates an “official” code of its statutes, the public would have the right to freely copy and share that collection of laws.  One would also think…
Business Law Business Law Resources Patent Law Trademark Law
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GREEN LIGHT FOR POTTY-MOUTH BRANDING!

SUPREME COURT RULES LAW PROHIBITING REGISTRATION OF IMMORAL OR SCANDALOUS TRADEMARKS IS UNCONSTITUTIONAL Only two years ago, in the case of In re Tam, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the federal law (the Lanham Act) that prohibited registration of “disparaging” marks violated the First…
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The United States Patent & Trademark Office Issues Guide for Applications to Register Cannabis-Related Marks

On May 2, 2019 the United States Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) issued new guidelines for businesses seeking to obtain registrations for cannabis-related marks.  Any company that is in –  or wants to be in – the CBD, hemp or medical marijuana business and is…
Business Law Business Law Resources Copyright Law
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Supreme Court Makes It Clear: To File A Copyright Infringement Suit, You Must Have An Issued Registration. A Pending Application To Register Is Not Enough.

Businesses bemoan the fact that their attorneys can never make a concrete legal determination because the applicable law requires a balancing of a myriad of factors – many of which cannot be known until expensive litigation discovery is undertaken.  On March 4, 2019, the Supreme…
Business Law Business Law Resources Trademark Law
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Potty-Mouthed Trademarks — Supreme Court to Decide if Federal Prohibition Against Registering Them is Constitutional

It has not been two years since the Supreme Court issued its opinion in the case of Matal v. Tam – a case touching upon an issue near and dear to all of us – free speech.  That case involved the situation in which, Simon…
Business Law Business Law Resources Patent Law Trademark Law
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The Ongoing Ambiguity Over Which Inventions Are Patentable And Which Are Not – The Patent Office’s New Guidelines

On January 7, 2019, the United States Patent and Trademark Office issued new 2019 guidelines on how it will go about determining whether an invention is one which the law allows to be patented.  If you have been following the news on this topic then…
Trademark Law
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NO SAFE SPACE FROM OFFENSIVE TRADEMARKS! SUPREME COURT RULES LAW PROHIBITING REGISTRATION OF DISPARAGING TRADEMARKS IS UNCONSTITUTIONAL

Last fall I wrote a post about the pending case, Matal v. Tam, before the United States Supreme Court that had implications for everyone.  The blog dealt with a section of the federal trademark statute, 15 U.S.C. § 1052(a), which authorizes the United States Patent…
Trademark Law
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Schlafly Brewery Shows How to Make a Sour Blonde: Wins Trademark Dispute Against Phyllis Schlafly

It is not often that craft beer lovers and ordinary St. Louisans will take interest in a trademark dispute. However, one such case caught the attention of both demographics. In this regard, long-standing conservative activist, Phyllis Schlafly, and her son, Dr. Bruce S. Schlafly, filed…